Pregnant woman jailed for having thought about abortion

This story is almost too hard to believe, but it is indeed true: A pregnant woman in Iowa was jailed for "attempted feticide" because she told hospital staff she once thought about having an abortion.

This shocking tale can be found in the women's rights section of the website belonging to the organization change.org. The story was also carried by Nerve and pointed to by Harper's Magazine on Feb. 16.

Apparently, in Iowa it can be regarded as a crime ― in this case attempted feticide ― if a pregnant woman gets unwell and falls down the stairs. In any case, it may be regarded as a possible crime if this happens a few months after she considered having an abortion.

The simple fact of this weird tale are as follows:

In the beginning of her pregnancy, the woman considered abortion but decided against it.

After a meeting with her estranged husband, she became unwell and fell down the stairs. Medics in the hospital told her the child she was carrying was fine. She was elated to hear this. After the fall, however, she mentioned she had previously thought of terminating the pregnancy.

Soon after, she found herself in jail because someone interpreted her falling as an attempt to "intentionally terminate a human pregnancy," an act which is the legal definition of feticide.